A TAILORED service matching expectant families in Surrey to specialist midwives has been launched, following an increase in demand for private midwifery services.

The lack of NHS midwives is so severe in some parts of England and Wales that many women are not getting the one-to-one care during labour that they are entitled to, according to the first national maternity and perinatal audit, published earlier this year.

Some women are getting as few as two chances after the birth to discuss key issues such as breastfeeding and mental health with a midwife at a home visit or at a clinic. The help women receive after giving birth, continuity of care, is patchy and too often “low”, the report’s authors concluded.

Following a 10-fold increase in the booking of private midwifery services in the past five years, Private Midwives, a Care Quality Commission-registered and regulated service, has launched a branch to connect Surrey women with their own locally-based personal midwife – according to their health needs, choices, preferences and birthing philosophy, allowing antenatal, birth and postnatal care to be tailored specifically to them.

Through its unique partnerships with a number of NHS Trusts, the service provides midwives for women giving birth in 18 hospitals and birth centres in the UK.

Women in Surrey can choose to have their care during birth provided by a Private Midwives midwife, who is clinically responsible for the care during the birth, or to have a Private Midwives midwife there purely to provide birth support, in an advocacy role.

All midwives are registered and regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (UK) or the Nursing and Midwifery Board for Ireland.

Private Midwives, chief executive Eduard Sparkes said: “We provide an additional choice for parents-to-be who would like more contact with, or support from a midwife throughout pregnancy and beyond, at times and locations that suit them.

“Pregnancy can be a stressful time, which can often be made more so if women are unable to attend antenatal appointments with their partner, family member or close friend.

“Fathers currently only receive statutory leave during pregnancy which means it can be more difficult for them to take time off work for midwife appointments.”